THEY PAID WITH BULLETS is an Italian crime film set in the Chicago of 1929, where tommy gun-blazing action was all the rage and battles for supremacy raged between rival gangs. The hero, William Bogart, is the young Frank, who is taken under the wing of a violent crime boss and gradually works his way up through the ranks. This little-known production features all of the cliches of the genre, with snappily-dressed guys turning up to massacre each other and plenty of drive-by shootings. Peter Lee Lawrence delivers a commanding turn as a truly unhinged character while there's also time for a number of bedroom scenes as our hero falls in love. It's all rather light and predictable, perhaps more notable for boundary-pushing sex and violence in the wake of BONNIE & CLYDE than any real quality.
Review of They Paid with Bullets
